The primary goal of cooperatives is to meet needs, not generate profits, they can serve their members at low cost. Cooperatives often provide services to their communities that are not readily available from for-profit businesses. In other cases, cooperatives enhance the level of competition in the marketplace by providing consumers with an alternative source of products and services.

And consumers recognize the "co-op difference." In a 2012 public opinion poll, a representative sample of 1,000 adult Americans rated consumer cooperatives more highly than for-profit businesses on measures of quality and service.

The central principle of consumer cooperatives is member control and participation. These member/owners meet periodically to establish policy and elect directors. Directors, in turn, hire managers to administer the cooperative on a day-to-day basis. Consumer cooperatives provide most important products or services a person might need.